A Time To Tell the Truth
by pandorabox82
Summary: When Penelope finds Dave passed out in his office, she realises that there might not be much time left to tell him exactly how she feels for him.


Penelope frowned a little as she looked up from her computer screen. She didn't know what had caught her attention, but she couldn't help but feel like something was wrong. Pulling out one of her earbuds, she listened carefully to try and see if someone was calling her name, but that didn't make sense, since most of the team was out on a case, while Rossi had stayed behind, nursing a sprained ankle. Though she couldn't help but feel that the real reason he had stayed behind is that he didn't want everyone fussing over him and the dissolution of his fourth marriage. She had known that things between him and Crystal wouldn't last, since the woman wasn't Erin, and he hadn't ever really addressed losing her, but she hadn't told him that, as she didn't want to alienate one of her closest friends.

Letting out a sharp sigh, Penelope pushed away from her desk and pulled out her other earbud, setting them on her desk as she rose to her feet and went over to the door. Peeping her head outside, she couldn't hear anything that might have caught her attention, and from the smile that Anderson gave her, she knew that the expression on her face was not a normal one. Taking a deep breath, she tried to muster up a smile as she left her office and made her way down to Dave's office, knocking three times before heading inside. "Dave, is everything all right?" she asked as she closed the door before looking around the office. She didn't see him right away, but she did notice that his chair was in an odd position, and she frowned as she went around to push it in, only to find him on the floor.

Dropping to her knees, Penelope reached out and checked for a pulse. Thankfully, she found one, and she turned him onto his back in order to assess what had happened. Hastily, she ran her hands up and down his body, making certain to keep her touches light, just in case he had seriously injured himself. There didn't appear to be any injuries on his body, and she let out a soft breath of frustration as she moved her hands up to his head, feeling his face and forehead, finding no obvious bumps or cuts there. It was only when she moved her fingers to the back of his head that she found the beginnings of a large goose egg there. As her breath caught in her throat, Penelope hurriedly shrugged out of her sweater and folded it to make a pillow beneath his head. She didn't want him to put any more pressure on that knot than necessary, and once she was certain that he was somewhat comfortable, she changed how she was sitting, crossing her legs into the lotus position before she pulled out her phone from her bra and hurriedly dialed Anderson's direct line.

"Agent Anderson speaking."

"It's Penelope. I need paramedics up here in Rossi's office as quickly and quietly as possible. He's unconscious, and I am trying desperately to keep it together."

"All right, I'll make certain they get here as quickly as possible. What should I tell them about his condition?" he asked, and the calmness in his voice helped to calm her own racing heart.

"He's breathing steadily, but there's a rather large goose egg on the back of his head. I haven't tried waking him up. I don't know if that's a thing I should do or not, but I did put my sweater beneath his head. I, I haven't left his side, and honestly, I'm a bit afraid to."

"All right, I'll let them know, Penelope. And in a few minutes, everything will be all right. Hopefully."

"Hopefully," she parroted back before hanging up the phone, feeling more and more helpless as she watched Dave breathe slowly. Not knowing what else to do, she sank back down to the floor and picked up his hand, holding on firmly as she took a few deep breaths. "Now is a fine time to tell you this, Dave, since you'll probably never know, but better to have it out in the open, eh? I think I've been in love with you since Alex left us. Jayje had been pulling away for a while, and though I liked Kate, we didn't really connect, and after that, it just seemed like I was losing friends from the team as fast as I could make them. When Hotch left, well, it seemed to just take the wind out of my sails, and you were the only one who could make me feel better. And I will take care of you as you recover from whatever this is. Because you deserve to have someone look after you, even if Crystal wouldn't."

Penelope pressed her fingers to her lips before then touching Dave's, the tears freely falling down her face as she drew her legs up to her chest and set her chin there as she held his hand and watched him breath. It felt like hours passed before the paramedics arrived in his office, and then she had to move, to let them do their jobs. It was only when they started to wheel him out of the room that she thought to ask the most important question. Reaching out, she touched the remaining paramedic's arm. "Yes, ma'am?" she asked, and Penelope drew in a short breath.

"I need to go with him. Could you give me a moment to run to my office and get my purse? I'll meet you by the elevator?" The woman gave her a sharp nod, and Penelope allowed a short smile to slip across her face as she jogged to her door, typing in her passcode as quickly as possible, yanking her purse out of her drawer before stuffing a work tablet and keyboard into it. Though it only took a few moments, she felt like she was holding the paramedics up, so she forced herself to run down the stairs and out to the elevators. She arrived just as the doors slid open, and her shoulders slumped with relief as she joined the paramedics in it, instinctively taking hold of Dave's hand as the elevator travelled downwards.

It was difficult to focus on anything other than the warm feel of his hand, though she knew that the paramedics were discussing what the game plan for Dave was. It wasn't until they were getting into the ambulance that Penelope seemed to be able to think a little clearer. "I don't think he's been down for very long," she said, hating how drawn out her words sounded. The paramedic who she had spoken with earlier gave her a small nod, and then made a notation on her tablet before turning her focus onto Dave once more.

While she was occupied with Dave, Penelope pulled her work phone out of her pocket and pressed JJ's name before bringing the phone to her ear. "Penelope? What's wrong?"

"Agent Anderson didn't get ahold of you then. I'm riding with Rossi to the hospital. I don't know what happened, but he hit his head against something, and he's been unconscious for about thirty minutes now. I'll try to answer your questions on the road, but I know that I'll be a little distracted until we figure out what's going on. I did bring a tablet with me, but I just…"

"It's okay, I'll inform the team and we'll play things by ear. If push comes to shove, we can use one of the other department's technical analyst. Just, keep me informed, okay?"

"Of course," she replied absently. "Look, I should go, I don't want to distract the people helping Dave. I'll call soon." Before JJ could reply, Penelope ended the call and slipped that phone back into her bag before taking out her personal device and sending a quick text off to Hotch. _I know that you've moved on, that you don't want to hear much from us, but I thought I should let you know that I'm riding with Dave to the hospital. I found him unconscious in his office, and I am really worried. Just, keep us in your thoughts and if you have time, let me know how you and Jack are doing, so that I have something to focus on other than my thoughts._

After sending that message, she put her phone into her pocket before taking hold of Dave's hand once more, holding it a little more tightly as they sped along. It didn't take long to get to the hospital, and then she was following the paramedics into the emergency room, listening to them talk to the doctor who had greeted them. She knew that she was an afterthought to them, but that suited her just fine, since that meant they were focusing on Dave, as it should be. That didn't last, as once the paramedics had left the room, the doctor turned to look at her. "Hello, I'm Doctor Barnett. Are you Mister Rossi's wife?"

She shook her head a little, feeling her cheeks flush a little. "No, I work with him at the FBI, and I was the one who found him. I don't know if he's updated his emergency contact information since his divorce, but I'm the closest thing he has to family." Penelope tried to smile, but felt close to tears once more. "If at all possible, I'd like to stay with him. I've always made certain that whoever from our team is here, that they're not alone. I woke up alone, and I won't let that happen to anyone else."

Doctor Barnett gave her a small nod before starting to examine Dave. As she probed the goose egg, Penelope saw the man wince, and it was the first reaction that they'd gotten out of him since she had found him. "It seems like he might be coming around, but I'm still going to want to get an MRI of his brain and keep him here for observations for a few hours. I'll put the order in for that now, and we'll wait for the machine to become available. Since this is an emergency, he should move up the queue, but I can't give an exact time as to when he'll be seen."

"Thank you, Doctor, whatever you do will be fine."

The woman nodded as she made a few notes in the computer by Dave's bedside before she bustled from the room. Once the door was closed, Penelope scooted the only chair in the room as close to his bed as possible before picking up his hand and bending down so that she could rest her cheek against it. Shivering a little, she realized that she hadn't brought her sweater with her, and that would come to be a problem if they were there long. Shaking her head a little, she tried to focus on the fact that she was here for Dave, not for her own comfort, and she tightened her hold on his hand as she allowed herself to cry.

It took a moment for her to recognize the feeling of someone stroking her hair, and she lifted her head a little to look at Dave's face. His eyes were still closed, but there was a pained expression on his face that hadn't been there earlier. "Dave? Are you awake?" she asked tremulously, waiting for a response. He let out a small groan before tightening his fingers around her hand, and an ecstatic grin spread across her lips as she sat up, bringing his hand to her chest before leaning in and kissing his cheek softly. "You had me so worried! Don't ever do that again!"

"I didn't do it on purpose, Kitten. I slipped when I turned around to get something behind me and the next thing I knew, I was here."

"Yeah, I had Anderson call the paramedics when you wouldn't wake up for me. Please, don't leave me. I can't take another loss!" The happiness left her body in an instant as she started to cry, turning her face from him so that he wouldn't watch this display of sorrow. When he shook his hand free, she started to cry all the harder, until he rested that hand atop her head, stroking her hair once more, using soft motions in order to comfort her.

"Kitten, Penelope, please don't cry like this. Everyone leaves, it's a fact of life. But I'm hoping that I have a few good years left. Even if they might be spent alone."

"They don't have to be," she whispered before she could stop herself, and his hand paused before pressing down a little more firmly on her head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. It was too forward of me."

"But if that's the way you feel, you shouldn't be ashamed of saying it. Right, Penelope?" She looked at him, seeing that his eyes were finally open and focused on her. "And I miss all those who have left us as well. It truly does feel like we've been losing more than gaining these last few years. Erin's death seemed to be that catalyst in our losses."

She gave him a small nod, trying to get her tears under control. "But it means more when it's you in danger," she finally said, her eyes never leaving his this time. Dave returned her sad smile, and she felt her heart crack a little wider. "But you don't feel that same way."

"You're putting words in my mouth, Kitten." Penelope cocked her head to one side, trying to wait patiently for him to speak once more. She didn't want to get her hopes up, after all. "I didn't want to address these feelings that were developing between us, because you are so much younger than I am. You deserve someone who will give you decades, Penelope."

"You've already given me a decade, David." He chuckled at the use of his full name, and she smacked his leg lightly before letting out a half crying laugh. "I mean, you've had to put up with my over the top personality, and yet you've always stayed by my side. You were the one who brought me flowers after I'd been shot. And like, I love all the team, everyone, even Gideon, who was the toughest."

"What? Tougher than Erin?" he joked.

"Yeah. He called me stupid, and that always stuck with me. I had to really fight to get past that, since that was one of the things that I've always been insecure about. Yeah, people made fun of the way I dressed in school, my weight, all those superficial things. And I learned to create a sort of armour around my heart and body, in that my dress got a little more outrageous and my intelligence was a weapon I could use to cut others down to size. So when he called me stupid, it was like I had never made any progress in life, and I was already smarting from making that mistake in the first place. I know that Elle always blamed Hotch for getting her shot, but I was the one who let the fox into the henhouse. Gideon pointing out how stupid I was just, it destroyed something in me."

"I didn't know that, Penelope." She sighed a little as he reached out to caress her face lightly. "And you are the farthest thing from stupid."

"I know that, now. But then? I wasn't nearly as confident. It really helped having you and Hotch build me up over the years. And that year I had with Erin, well, I tried to learn as much from her as I could, though I still wish that we had had more time."

"I wish that, too, Kitten." He rubbed his thumb along her cheek, and she gave him a sad smile before letting her head come back to rest on his thigh. "So, if you don't think it's a waste of time, perhaps we could see about making things a little more personal between us. I think that it's time to retire, anyway, so we won't have to worry about making sure our relationship is approved."

"I would really love to make things more personal between us, yes," she breathed out as the door to his room opened once more, Doctor Barnett striding in with a pensive look. Penelope sat up like a shot, giving her a nervous smile as the doctor looked at Dave. "He just woke up!"

"That's wonderful to see, but we still have to have that MRI, and do some observations. If you want to stay here, that would be all right, but he'll probably be gone for about forty minutes. There's a family room where you can get coffee and I think there might be some cookies left, too."

"Thank you. I'll be here when you get back, David, I promise." He nodded as a porter came into their room, helping move Dave from his bed to a portable one, and Penelope got to her feet before bending over him and kissing his lips gently. "Take good care of him."

"That is the plan," Doctor Barnett said as they left the room. Penelope waited a few moments to let them get away, since she knew that it would be harder to let him go if she saw him being wheeled onto an elevator. Stepping out of their room, she made certain to take note of where they were before stepping over to the nurse's station and asking to be directed to the family room.

The coffee was weak, but it did perk her up, and she snagged two cookies before heading back to the room and taking a seat in the chair. While she was waiting for Dave to return, she pulled out her cellphone and saw that she had missed a message from Hotch. _Let me know how he's doing, and I'll be there to visit tomorrow or the next day._

Penelope tapped out a quick reply, letting him know that Dave was awake and that they would probably be headed home the next morning, before asking him to call before he came over, and that she would be taking care of Dave until he was back to tiptop shape. With that sent off, she settled back in the seat and scrolled through Twitter as she waited for Dave to return, and then they could pick up their conversation where they'd left off, and maybe, just maybe, she could get a second kiss.


End file.
